Chapter Sixteen
"Harry? You ok?"
The voice came from faraway, and although I could only hear it vaguely, I somehow knew who was speaking. My mind was still awhirl with this new onslaught of memories my mind had chosen to reveal, and my consciousness had not yet fully awakened from the memory I had experienced.
"Harry Potter, if you don't snap out of it right now, I'll go find your Mum, and she'll definitely be curious as to why you're like this… Now, for Merlin's sake, look at me!"
With forced recognition, I shifted my eyes slightly to my left, where Draco hovered over me, eyes showing a mixture of surprise, anger, and even a bit of concern. Outside of Hermione, Ron, and Sirius, I couldn't remember ever having anyone genuinely concerned over me – and it definitely had a sense of content to it.
My mind immerged from the hazy mist that had occupied my mind, gaze coming into focus slowly, and slowly the idea I wasn't in the Gryffindor dorms – but in my bedroom – slowly set in.
"You in there?" Draco's impish grin greeted my startled gaze, causing a reaction in me that for the rest of my life, I felt I never could explain.
Why, of all memories, did that one have to be the first to resurface?
"Yeah," I shook my head, privately amazed I hadn't collapsed from the sheer force and mental impact of the remembrance, "I – I started to remember, that's all."
"Really?" Draco's face lit up with hope, "What about?"
I struggled with a delicate way to put my findings, "Well… I can remember what happened that night, I'll tell you that."
His eyes widened, "All of it?"
I shook my head, "Just up to when I… err… kissed you."
He snorted, "You missed all the good stuff, mate. Sorry about that."
I shook my head, "Maybe there's a reason I can't remember – is there anything my mind would be protecting itself against?"
Draco looked at me oddly, "What the hell gave you that idea, Harry?"
I shrugged, "I don't know, I just… Is there anything that's happened recently that I might want to be protecting my mind from?"
He thought for a moment, "Not that I know of. If you're referring to what we did, I can honestly say neither of us regretted it – we just agreed to move on. It was a decent way to lose it, no string attached, no feeling of obligation. Just the satisfaction of knowing we got away with it, really."
I blinked, "So is that what it was really all about? Knowing we got away with it?"
He shook his head vigorously, "No, no, definitely not. I suppose you could see it that way, but I assure you, neither of us did."
"Then what did we see it as?" I asked curiously, with absolutely no offensive nature to my tone.
He shrugged, "A good lay."
I smirked, "No emotional ties? Just a good lay?"
He shrugged once again, "Well… You can't do that sort of thing with someone and just more or less ignore the implications. I'll admit, there were a few… other sessions, shall we say, but none of them went as far as the first one did."
"So we basically just got off on one another?"
He snorted, "Yep."
I nodded, "Nice to know. Anything recently?"
Draco looked at me curiously for a moment before replying, "You want to know whether or not we have random snogging sessions – whether or not we fight a losing battle to hormones, basically."
I shrugged, "You could put it that way."
He thought once more, "Last time was right after school let out, if I remember correctly. It's nothing more than a way to relieve tensions… A cute bird won't let us do anything below the waist, for example. We just… release the tension."
I raised my eyebrow, "The scary part is, that sounds like something I'd do, especially in this world."
He rolled his eyes, "Still convinced you're from another world, are you?"
I shrugged, "I have sixteen years worth of memories from that one and about five minute's memories from this – you tell me which one's real."
He grinned, "Considering I'm living in this one… I'd have to say you'd be absolutely insane to think what you remember is your real life."
"Right now, I'm not all that sure," I sighed, "Isn't there something we could do to try and reverse this memory thing? Anything?"
He raised an eyebrow, "If talking about it helped you remember, maybe we should –," he broke off, laughing at my absurd expression, "All right, I'll talk to Snape. If anyone can help you, he can."
"Harry? You ok?"
The voice came from faraway, and although I could only hear it vaguely, I somehow knew who was speaking. My mind was still awhirl with this new onslaught of memories my mind had chosen to reveal, and my consciousness had not yet fully awakened from the memory I had experienced.
"Harry Potter, if you don't snap out of it right now, I'll go find your Mum, and she'll definitely be curious as to why you're like this… Now, for Merlin's sake, look at me!"
With forced recognition, I shifted my eyes slightly to my left, where Draco hovered over me, eyes showing a mixture of surprise, anger, and even a bit of concern. Outside of Hermione, Ron, and Sirius, I couldn't remember ever having anyone genuinely concerned over me – and it definitely had a sense of content to it.
My mind immerged from the hazy mist that had occupied my mind, gaze coming into focus slowly, and slowly the idea I wasn't in the Gryffindor dorms – but in my bedroom – slowly set in.
"You in there?" Draco's impish grin greeted my startled gaze, causing a reaction in me that for the rest of my life, I felt I never could explain.
Why, of all memories, did that one have to be the first to resurface?
"Yeah," I shook my head, privately amazed I hadn't collapsed from the sheer force and mental impact of the remembrance, "I – I started to remember, that's all."
"Really?" Draco's face lit up with hope, "What about?"
I struggled with a delicate way to put my findings, "Well… I can remember what happened that night, I'll tell you that."
His eyes widened, "All of it?"
I shook my head, "Just up to when I… err… kissed you."
He snorted, "You missed all the good stuff, mate. Sorry about that."
I shook my head, "Maybe there's a reason I can't remember – is there anything my mind would be protecting itself against?"
Draco looked at me oddly, "What the hell gave you that idea, Harry?"
I shrugged, "I don't know, I just… Is there anything that's happened recently that I might want to be protecting my mind from?"
He thought for a moment, "Not that I know of. If you're referring to what we did, I can honestly say neither of us regretted it – we just agreed to move on. It was a decent way to lose it, no string attached, no feeling of obligation. Just the satisfaction of knowing we got away with it, really."
I blinked, "So is that what it was really all about? Knowing we got away with it?"
He shook his head vigorously, "No, no, definitely not. I suppose you could see it that way, but I assure you, neither of us did."
"Then what did we see it as?" I asked curiously, with absolutely no offensive nature to my tone.
He shrugged, "A good lay."
I smirked, "No emotional ties? Just a good lay?"
He shrugged once again, "Well… You can't do that sort of thing with someone and just more or less ignore the implications. I'll admit, there were a few… other sessions, shall we say, but none of them went as far as the first one did."
"So we basically just got off on one another?"
He snorted, "Yep."
I nodded, "Nice to know. Anything recently?"
Draco looked at me curiously for a moment before replying, "You want to know whether or not we have random snogging sessions – whether or not we fight a losing battle to hormones, basically."
I shrugged, "You could put it that way."
He thought once more, "Last time was right after school let out, if I remember correctly. It's nothing more than a way to relieve tensions… A cute bird won't let us do anything below the waist, for example. We just… release the tension."
I raised my eyebrow, "The scary part is, that sounds like something I'd do, especially in this world."
He rolled his eyes, "Still convinced you're from another world, are you?"
I shrugged, "I have sixteen years worth of memories from that one and about five minute's memories from this – you tell me which one's real."
He grinned, "Considering I'm living in this one… I'd have to say you'd be absolutely insane to think what you remember is your real life."
"Right now, I'm not all that sure," I sighed, "Isn't there something we could do to try and reverse this memory thing? Anything?"
He raised an eyebrow, "If talking about it helped you remember, maybe we should –," he broke off, laughing at my absurd expression, "All right, I'll talk to Snape. If anyone can help you, he can."